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Hi John,
At COP30, we declared that time is up for corporate courts.

I’m on my way back from Belém, Brazil, where I’m pleased to report we started the clock ticking on dismantling the toxic corporate court system. Thank you to everyone who’s helped make this big milestone possible. It’s testament to the power of collective action and perseverance.

It’s no exaggeration to say that corporate courts, formally known as ISDS, have become a major impediment to the climate action we so desperately need. Because it gives fossil fuel corporations the power to sue governments when they do the right thing and halt climate-destroying projects.

On Saturday, I spoke alongside Colombia’s Environment Minister, Irene Vélez Torres. Only one day earlier she had pledged to make the Colombian Amazon fossil-free. It’s an important step, in keeping with her government’s world-leading role in ending the age of fossil fuels.

But the minister told us that one of the biggest obstacles that Colombia faces in trying to end fossil fuels has been ISDS. Colombia has been hit by 23 ISDS cases and faces as many as 280 potential cases if they continue to do what is necessary, and phase out oil, coal and gas.

A ground-breaking piece of research last week underlined the minister’s point, finding that 218 oil and gas projects in Amazonian countries are covered by ISDS provisions. They cover the equivalent of 27 billion barrels of oil.

Our message to climate negotiators was clear: at a UN climate summit where the indigenous people of the Amazon so loudly and bravely made their case for protecting their precious forest, ISDS means it is actually those destroying the Amazon who are protected.

We were one of the few groups putting this corporate obstacle to climate action on the agenda of the UNFCCC. But this is just the start. In the year ahead, we’ll build on this work, convincing more governments to join us. Our objective is clear: the next climate summit must finally name the problem of corporate courts, and support governments to create an ISDS-free world.

This change won’t come about simply by talking to ministers. In Belém, we also brought together grassroots movements fighting ISDS cases from across Latin America, to share their experiences. In the year ahead, we want to bring together communities fighting ISDS across the world to strengthen their movements.

Like our own campaigners opposing the new coal mine in Cumbria, movements across the world have beaten mining and fossil fuel projects, only to have victory snatched away by an ISDS case. We must strengthen these movements, so they can successfully pressure their governments to exit ISDS.

But we are only as strong as our members, and we urgently need more people on board. Join us today and your membership can help make sure we continue this campaign for the long-term.
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As the Colombian Minister told COP30 at our meeting this weekend: “No government should have to choose between protecting nature and its people and protecting itself from arbitrators.”

Let’s help ensure they no longer have to.

Best wishes,
Nick Dearden
Director of Global Justice Now


P.S. To beat ISDS, we need more people on board. Join as a member today ([link removed]) to help supports grassroot movements and pressure governments to take action.
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